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Stephen Hawking Has a Message For One Direction Fans

Posted by samzenpus on from the in-another-time-and-place dept.

An anonymous reader points out that Stephen Hawking recently gave some advice for One Direction fans. What is the cosmological effect of singer Zayn Malik leaving the best-selling boy band One Direction and consequently disappointing millions of teenage girls around the world? The advice of British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to heartbroken fans is to follow theoretical physics, because Malik may well still be a member of the pop group in another universe. The physicist took a break from speaking about his work as one of the world's leading scientists to answer the question from one upset fan during a talk at Sydney Opera House at the weekend. 'Finally a question about something important,' Hawking, who appeared via hologram, said to loud laughs from the audience. 'My advice to any heartbroken young girl is to pay attention to the study of theoretical physics because, one day, there may well be proof of multiple universes. It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that somewhere outside of our own universe lies another, different universe and, in that universe, Zayn is still in One Direction.'"

3 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. This is stupid by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is really stupid. What next - don't mourn the passing of your child - in another universe they might be alive? Fat lot of good that does for anyone here - after all, neither their nor their child's doppelganger in another universe would be an exact replica.

    But I'll look at the bright side - in another universe crap like this wouldn't make it to slashdot's front page.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    1. Re:This is stupid by Jaime2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's worse than that. If you accept that there is a parallel universe where One Direction didn't break up and decide it matters to you, then you also have to accept that there is a parallel universe where the most heinous thing you can imaging has happened to you. Since you decided to be emotionally invested in what happens in other universes, that should affect you the same way. If not, then the parallel universe thing wasn't science, it was denial.

  2. It's stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The "multi universe" hypothesis is religion for physicists.

    The evidence just isn't there. The models that predict it are a bit dubious and there are some solid scientific challenges to them.

    Believing that things went the way you wanted them to go, in "some other universe," is cold comfort at best, and at worst it is every bit as nonsensical as believing that your departed loved ones are somehow still alive in some higher plane, or somehow came back as another person.

    Until solid evidence of parallel realities is attained, every self-respecting Dawkins fan should denounce the belief as fantasy.